Bright-Night 2023: Istituto degli Innocenti Participates with Workshops, Talks and Museum

With a workshop, a talk, a free visit to the Museum and a guided tour of the exhibition dedicated to identifying tokens, Florence’s Istituto degli Innocenti is among the protagonists of the “Europe-an Night of Researchers”. Launched by the European Commission to disseminate scientific culture in cities and squares, this annual event will be held on 29 September.

“Bright-Night 2023” sees the whole of Tuscany mobilised with a rich programme of initiatives that will involve around 1,000 researchers in the squares of eleven cities in our region to enliven more than 300 initiatives: workshops, demonstrations, experiments, exhibitions, guided tours and science walks that will engage citizens in an exciting journey through a wide range of research-related topics.

In Florence, the heart of the event will be Piazza Santissima Annunziata, overlooked by the Istituto degli Innocenti. Various stands will be set up here together with a pavilion entirely dedicated to children with plenty of opportunities to discover science. There will also be a meeting area where short talks by researchers from the University of Florence will take place under the title Mostra e Dimostra (Show and Demonstrate). The evening will end with I confini non esistono (Boundaries do not exist), a performance by and with Stefano Mancuso and Matteo Caccia. This is an event in which the narratives of the well-known plant neurobiologist and actor/playwright in-tersect. Other events will precede and follow the Bright-Night in Florence throughout the week from 25 to 30 September, for a total of 70 initiatives.

Events at the Istituto and the Museo degli Innocenti

The Istituto and the Museo degli Innocenti will be active players thanks to a number of events scheduled for 29 September:

• 5pm - Music and theatre workshop for teenagers: Pop masculinit(ies). Different masculinities in different musical narratives
• 6pm - Talk: The Right to Know One's Origins
• 3-7pm – Free visit: Museum of the Innocenti reserved for the public under 26 years of age
• 5pm - Guided tour: The exhibition “And the Other Half I Shall Keep. Identifying Tokens of the Ospedale degli Innocenti”

The workshop “Pop masculinit(ies). Different masculinities in different musical narratives” aims at working with adolescent boys on models of masculinity produced by the world of popular culture and, in particular, music. A number of videos will be shown of bands and artists who promote both traditional models of masculinity and models of masculinity with performances that are far from the heteronormative standard. The aim is to create a space for dialogue and critical reflection on the models proposed by music and how these can be reflected in the construction of their imagery. A workshop designed with the findings of EU-funded innovation and research projects carried out by the Institute.

At 6pm, there will be a talk on the right to know one's origins; a meeting to discuss access to information on the origins of young people from a social point of view while highlighting the relevant regulatory framework; and a presentation of SE.RI.O, a service for the search of origins, aimed at supporting access to information. The meeting will also be an opportunity to explore the history and role of the Istituto degli Innocenti in taking in abandoned children and preserving and passing on their stories.

Throughout the afternoon of 29 September, ample space will be given to young people under the age of 26 who will be able to visit the Museo degli Innocenti free of charge. Created to exhibit the works of art of the ancient Hospital, the Museum has been transformed into a place whose itinerary enables visitors to discover a cultural heritage that is unique in the world because it is profoundly linked to the Institute's work in favour of children and adolescents for over six centuries. The route of the itinerary is divided between art, history and architecture, thus creating a story that links past and present and bears witness to a neverending history of receiving and helping children and families. Finally, the Museo degli Innocenti also offers another event of great cultural significance: a guided tour of the exhibition “And the other half I shall keep”. The exhibition displays a selection of the more than 40,000 tokens kept in the Historical Archive, one of the richest collections of its kind in the world. These are small items left on children when they arrived at the Hospital. “Broken” objects that for a long time were the only “identity documents” capable of re-establishing the bond with one's child by showing its “other half”. The exhibition traces the function of the tokens over the centuries, the different types that have come down to us (coins and medals, votive accessories such as rosaries, medallions and crosses, or objects for everyday use such as jewels, buttons and ribbons). Above all, though, it brings to light the many stories of the children who were taken in and to whom these objects belonged. This is an opportunity to introduce the general public to a unique heritage to be protected, popularised and passed on to new generations. The exhibition is housed in the historical section (basement) of the Museo degli Innocenti and can be visited until 30 September 2023.